The High Court on Wednesday asked the deputy commissioner of Cox鈥檚 Bazar to investigate how many Rohingyas were given citizenship as Bangladeshi nationals and enrolled as voters in Cox鈥檚 Bazar.
The High Court asked the local government division secretary, the election commission secretary, the registrar general of Office of the Registrar General, Birth and Death Registration, the deputy commissioner of Cox鈥檚 Bazar and the district superintendent of police to submit the investigation report to the court by June 6.
The High Court asked the government authorities to remove 38 Rohingyas from the list of voters of Eidgaon union in Cox鈥檚 bazar before the coming Eidgaon union parishad elections.
The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Mohammad Hamid, a resident of Eidgaon union, challenging the declaration of Eidgaon upazila elections slated to be held on
April 28.
The court also asked the government to explain in four weeks why enrolling Rohingya as voters and providing them with Bangladeshi citizenship would not be declared illegal.
Lawyer Siddique Ullah Mia, appearing for the writ petitioner, told the High Court that allegations were that 38 Rohingyas took national identity cards illegally and got their names enrolled on the voter list of Eidgaon union of Cox鈥檚 Bazar Sadar through forged documents of their parents and addresses.
Siddique told the court that the local upazila nirbahi officer鈥檚 investigation report which was submitted to the local administration on October 29, 2023, found a total of 35 Rohingyas, who illegally obtained citizenship documents like birth registration certificates and national identity cards since 2016 through forgeries in connivance with local chairman and some influential public representatives.
He said that there were many allegations of Rohingyas getting birth registration cards, NIDs to enrol as voters in Cox鈥檚 Bazar but the local administration and public representatives did not take action to cancel the forged documents of Rohingyas.